Beat dimpled skin with our 7-day anti-cellulite diet

If ugly, dimpled thighs are putting a dampener on your appearance, our 14-day anti-cellulite plan could solve all your 'orange-peel' problems. Helen Foster, renowned diet expert, reveals how to get smooth legs and lose up to 7lb!

'No matter what beauty therapists might tell you, cellulite isn't a build-up of toxins, it's actually fat held in stacked lipid boxes – pure and simple. If you gain weight or the collagen fibres holding those boxes together start to thicken, the fat is squished upwards, creating a dimpled look.'

And as this fat has high numbers of water-attracting cells, fluid is drawn into those boxes, leading to more lumps. So the severity of your cellulite depends on: how much fat and fluid your lipid boxes contain; how thick the collagen fibres become and how firm your skin is.

All of these factors are influenced by genetics, age and the number of free radicals in your system – but they can be radically improved by the foods you eat. 'Your diet alone can determine whether you have cellulite,' says nutritional therapist and homotoxicologist Karen Devine. So follow our four rules and banish the bumps.

Getting rid of cellulite

1. Reduce fluid retention

This is the most important rule, as eliminating excess fluid from your fat cells will dramatically reduce the amount bulging from those stacked lipid boxes. So you need to cut out salt, drink more water and eat more naturally diuretic foods, including cranberries, celery, fennel and asparagus.

2. Burn fat

While slim women do get cellulite, excess fat makes the condition far worse, so this diet plan gives around 1,400 calories a day, on which you should lose about 2lb of fat a week.

'To maximise fat burning, it's vital to increase your intake of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), which triggers fat release,' reveals nutritionist Henrietta Bailey of London's Pure Sports Medicine. In fact, when US researchers gave one group of women a herbal anti-cellulite pill alone and another group the same pill plus 800mg CLA, the CLA group lost two-thirds more fat from their thighs and were five times more likely to say their cellulite had improved. Try Maxinutrition Promax Lean, £17.49, Boots.

3. Plump your skin

'Cellulite looks worse on dehydrated skin,' says Henrietta. This is because the more water there is in your skin cells, the plumper the skin will be over the fat boxes and the less the dimpling will show.

Healthy fats hydrate the skin because they encourage fluid to remain inside the skin cells rather than in the fat cells. So nuts, seeds, olives and oily fish are important elements of this plan.

4. Decrease oestrogen levels

'The women of Peru don't have cellulite, which, I believe, is down to the fact that they have a diet high in natural phytoestrogens (plant oestrogens), which balances their oestrogen levels,' says New York-based cellulite specialist Dr Lionel Bissoon, author of 'The Cellulite Cure' (Meso Press, £21.50).

Oestrogen is involved in cellulite production as it triggers the production of fat cells and encourages fluid retention. In fact, according to Karen Devine, 'One of the most important cellulite-fighting foods is flaxseed, which contains hormone modulators called lignans, which lower excess oestrogen levels.' Just sprinkle one to two tablespoons of flaxseed (also known as linseed) over your morning cereal or porridge.

If you follow these rules it will help in the fight against cellulite, but how do you incorporate them all into your life? Easy – our seven-day diet does it all for you.

Follow it for two weeks to visibly improve surface cellulite and tackle fluid retention, and for up to six weeks to create a longer-lasting effect that targets the problem at the source. Not only that, you'll also be really re-energised on this plan.

Feel free to mix and match the ingredients – for example, if the diet suggests salmon, it's okay to swap it for another oily fish. Just make sure you stick to the same quantities. Each day, drink two litres of low or no-calorie fluid such as water, diet soda or herbal tea.

If you suffer from fluid retention, have one or two cups of dandelion or fennel tea a day to help flush out fluid faster.

Day 4

Lunch Sandwich made from two slices of linseed bread spread with a little mayonnaise and filled with 75g (3oz) sliced chicken, unlimited cucumber and tomatoes. Serve with 200g (7oz) lentil soup.

Dinner Frittata made by mixing two eggs with 25g (1oz) low-fat grated cheese, unlimited sliced asparagus and 2-3 slices of chopped lean ham. Cook in a saucepan on a low heat until the bottom solidifies, then pop under the grill to finish. Serve with unlimited fennel chopped and sautéed with onions and unlimited broccoli.